Thorns Grow After Betrayal (Celeste and Chester) novel Chapter 164

Celestine was completely oblivious to the teasing in his voice.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks a little pink. "Mr. Prescott, you're too kind."

Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Really? You don't see it at all, do you, Miss Selwyn?"

She blinked, confused, catching none of his sarcasm.

Gideon's smile was ambiguous, somewhere between amused and exasperated. "I can't figure it out, you know. Maybe you could show me?"

"Of course," Celestine replied without hesitation.

She explained the process step by step, but Gideon made no move to follow along. He just sat there, watching her, his gaze growing increasingly plaintive.

Celestine assumed he must not have understood. "Let me see your phone for a second," she offered.

He nodded toward the device resting beside him. "It's right there."

She reached for it. "What's your passcode?"

"031111."

Celestine didn't question it, and quickly unlocked the phone using the numbers he'd given.

Gideon watched her intently, searching for a reaction as he recited those digits. But even after she entered the code, her expression didn't shift at all.

She's forgotten everything.

His fingers, which had been idly drumming on the armrest, stilled.

"Miss Selwyn," he said quietly.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember saving a dog when you were four years old?"

She was startled, pausing with his phone in her hand. Celestine had always been sensitive to animal fur and had never kept a pet growing up. As far as she could recall, she'd never even been close to a puppy.

She shook her head, uncertain. "No… Why do you ask?"

Gideon didn't answer, his eyes fixed on her hands instead. "Are you done?"

"Just a second." Celestine finished adjusting the last setting and handed his phone back. "All set."

As she looked up, she caught, perhaps only in her imagination, a wounded look flicker across his face.

"Thank you," Gideon said, his tone flat, eyes half-lidded.

Celestine felt a strange sense of unease.

Her own phone buzzed just then—a bank notification. One million dollars had landed in her account.

Right on its heels, a message from Chester popped up.

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